Flurry, as soon as she heard the loud BANG! of the gunshot reacted. On pure instinct, she threw up a shield of pure gold magic over the group, and the bullet only very nearly pierced the shield. The shield cracked, but didn’t shatter.

She looked up to the top of a jagged cliffside and saw the figure the Doctor had described as Sir Ikargen loading another round into his rifle.

“Move, now!” Flurry barked to her subjects. “Not sure if this shield can withstand another shot, and I sure as Tartarus don’t want to chance it!”

Not needing to be told twice, the Ranger got moving as shots whizzed over their heads. One nicked Jabari in the leg, causing him to scream out in pain as blood splattered the rocky ground. The rocky ground which hadn’t been there before, Flurry had noticed. The fields had rapidly faded away, as soon as Kukata Tamaa had been defeated. It seems with his death, the carefully and meticulously crafted illusion of a perfect paradise had shattered like glass. Now the only thing that was left was a arid rocky cragged wasteland, with a dark green miasmic sky partially obscured by thick cloud cover.

Hardly paradise.

Coldcast rushed over to what was possibly his best friend, and helped him up. “I got you,” Coldcast grunted out. “Seriously though Jabari, ya need to lay off the hayburgers.”

“...What, you saying I’m fat?” Jabari joked, in spite of his wounds and despite the danger.

“Maybe a little. When we get back to the Shining Armor, you’re going on a crash diet. Best friend’s orders!” Coldcast replied as the two got moving.

“...I thought it was Doctor’s orders? Pretty sure you’re not qualified.”

“Best friend’s orders, they amount to about as much.”

Then, a loud shriek that both knew all too well echoed from above them, and the Scorpius Drone now installed with a new dark Kyuchanger leaped out from behind some rocks arm blades extended and crackling with energy.

“Oh, you got to be kidding me!” Jabari shouted. “What’d we ever do to tick that thing off?”

“Smash it’s mecha and steal it’s Kyutama?” Coldcast deadpanned as he raised his Astral Claw to block one of the blade strikes, while Jabari went for one of his pistols and fired at the robot shooting it in the chest.

“Move it!” Flurry shouted as she threw her spear impaling the robot to a rock. “I’ll cover you, just get to your Voyagers! I’ve already sent a transmission, they’ve locked onto our location and are converging now!”

“How are you going to…?” Jabari asked before his voice trailed off as he remembered Flurry’s title, especially after seeing dust and sand beginning to get kicked up along with orange and red autumn leaves. Luna, or at least her AI version had told him that Flurry’s birth had created a massive weather system or something to that effect and therefore she’d become the Princess of the Seasons when she’d become sixteen, in charge of controlling and managing Equestria’s weather patterns.

This combination of dust, sand, and leaves blinded both Sir Ikargen who’d leaped down to join his partner and pulled out a rapier while the Scorpius Drone had pulled Flurry’s spear out of his chest.

“Damn you!” Ikargen shouted, even as a hoard of icicles was sent his way, both him and the drone using their blades to cut them to pieces.

“Crude words coming from someone who was supposedly knighted if your title is any indication!” Flurry snarked back.

More swearing followed, and as the group emerged from the maze of rocks they could see their freedom. The Scorpius Drone jumped out of nowhere with a Kyutama with a little fox painted on it in his gauntlet, blades at the ready. Ikargen was soon to follow.

“Where the Hell did they come from?” Coldcast shouted, as Flurry nodded at Flashfire, who tossed her his sword and she began dueling both the drone and Ikargen driving them back with both her swordsmanship abilities and her magical prowess.

Swinging wide, she sent an arc of orange energy at the two, knocking them back.

“That Kyutama…” Jabari noted, his eyes narrowing in on the design etched in on it. "That would be Vulpecula or the little fox. Known to be tricksters, so why can’t it give the ability of camouflage?”

“Maravilloso!” Coldcast snapped in a sarcastic manner. “Anything else we should be aware of?”

He got his answer soon enough when Sir Ikargen pulled out a purple and black Kyutama and placed it in a slot on his rifle making it state in a deep voice: “Black Hole Kyutama.”

“Faust!” Coldcast shouted, as Flurry and just about everyone else for that matter leaped away to avoid miniature black holes fired at them. “Man, they must really want to kill us, don’t they? I’m almost flattered that they think we’re that important!”

Flurry dodged more blade strikes before using her suit’s stinger tail to knock away the Scorpius Drone with one wide swing dealing with one threat for the time being. “...We need to talk about your ideas of flattery.” Jabari deadpanned even as Pharynx inserted the Serpens Kyutama into his gauntlet, and sent a barrage of spectral snakes towards Ikargen to give Flurry a chance to retreat.

“Give up,” Ikargen stated, as he implanted his sword in the ground and readied his rifle for more shots, the squid-like being almost seeming to be smirking in triumph. “Been a long hard road trying to kill you, but it's the end of the line.”

“...Yeah, might want to rethink that.” Flurry said with a distinctive smirk as she heard a very familiar engine’s roar and from behind some mountains the Cerberus Voyager emerged and fired a barrage of missiles at both Ikargen and the Scorpius Drone sending them flying. Seizing their chance, the Kyurangers all teleported into the massive Voyager as rocketed out of the planet’s atmosphere.

Ikargen let out a roar of rage as he picked himself up off the ground. It seems desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Madako, I need your assistance…” he stated into his comms.

The Doctor, suffice it to say was not a happy Time Lord when he found out several of the Kyurangers, Flurry, and Flashfire had explicitly gone against his warnings on landing on the planet Corvus. He’d warned them, he mentally yelled. Rassilon, even the Corvus Kyutama had warned them against landing on this planet in it’s own way!

Even now, the satellite Stripped Gear had hijacked alongside Jabari was picking up the transmissions coming from the planet below, the gunshots and the shouting of the various Kyurangers. Gritting his teeth, the last Gallifreyan flashed back to before all of this happened.

Voyagers were already prepped under Coldcast’s suggestion, and Flurry could see why as the jewel in front of them? It was exactly what they’d been searching for ever since they left their old home.

“...A new Eden.” she breathed out. The Doctor, however, didn’t look so sure, and every alarm bell in his mind was going off even as the Corvus Kyutama he gripped in his hands ever so tightly glowed and pulsated with power.

“Ready the landing craft,” Flurry said. In the background, various crew members including Stardust along with this white dragon-like pony with ram’s horns sticking out of her head gazed on in all. “We’ve found it.” she breathed out.

“Already marked out potential landing sites,” Jabari remarked, bringing up a hologram of the planet and gesturing to these landing sites with a pointer. “Color-coded of course, because what are we? Animals?” he laughed.

Flurry raised an eyebrow.

“...Okay, technically we are but you get my point. Continue on Princess.”

As Flurry did so, the Doctor gripped the Corvus Kyutama tightly in his palms pulsated with a dark power, he knew what exactly it’s abilities were. They were supposed to send someone into a world of despair, that someone with only a strong enough willpower was able to escape from. This was… concerning on multiple levels. One, that this Kyutama was reacting the way it was on this particular moment, and that Stardust had specifically ordered Stripped Gear to construct this particular Kyutama. If he didn’t know better, it’d be something Dark Matter would be more likely to use!

Speaking of Stardust, the Draco Ranger was currently dancing around with his cane, twirling in in his hands as a disco ball lowered from the bridge ceiling. Stardust, all the while sang this odd song in Neighponiese.

“Dare mo ga oozora ni
Sorezore no tadashisa wo
Kagagete arasou sono saihate ni
Nani ga aru to iu no

“Don't stop movin' on!!
Mirai wa mugen no kanousei no naka ni aru yo
Kimi no kokoro ga ugoku shunkan
Unmei mo ugokidasu!”

Predictably, everyone was ignoring him. The Doctor more so than most, he’d gotten used to the Prince of Summer and Spring’s weirdness -Ever since he was borne, Flurry’s title had been split in half with him taking up the warmer months- via this point. It was just part of his rather annoying character.

“No.” the Doctor stated, slamming the Corvus Kyutama on the bridge’s table, letting everyone look at it pulsate with black and purple energy.

“No?” Flashfire asked. “Please tell me you’ve finally lost it, can’t you see what’s out there?”

The Doctor’s eyes widened in surprise, surely Flashfire could see what he was seeing! Instead of this New Eden that Flurry was talking about, the Doctor didn’t see a jewel in the darkened seas of the cosmos. Instead, he saw a dark planet covered by clouds and storms, emanating a form of menace. It was incredibly frightening really, and actually made the Doctor want to run off and curl up in the smallest hole he could find.

“Do you?” the Doctor asked critically. “I’m warning you right now, don’t you dare land on that planet, whatever you do! Seriously, I’ve never been this serious in my entire life! Whatever you do, don’t leave this ship. Pack up, move onto the next planet!”

Flashfire blinked, and for a moment he looked concerned -perhaps breaking free of the planet’s spell for the briefest of moments- before his expression resumed its normal state.

“You’re being paranoid,” Flashfire remarked. “There’s nothing to be worried about. We’ve found it, a new home, and a base of permanent operations for us to conduct our war against Dark Matter. Besides, don’t you hear it? There’s a distress signal coming from that planet below, and as Paladins it’s our duty to answer it. As I said, you’re just being paranoid.”

“Am I?” the Doctor asked. “Can’t you see the Corvus Kyutama? I mean, look at it!” he shouted, gesturing to the Kyutama in question.

“...Yeah, I see it. So?”

“So, don’t you think this is a cause for concern?” the Doctor asked the Cerebus-themed Ranger. “It acting up like this? I’ve heard legends, about this great void in space that swallows up anything and everything, feeds on their hopes. Dangles this little lure in front of them, before snapping its jaws up tight,” the Doctor continued, and he did note Jabari flinch in what was possible recognition. “This whole planet, and that distress signal? It’s a lure, a trap! Send me down there, because trust me on this. Didn't anyone ever tell you there's one thing you never put in a trap. If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there's one thing you never, ever put in a trap. And that’s me. Put me down on that planet, and I guarantee that whatever’s waiting for you down there, I’ll send running for it’s life.”

Flashfire looked thoughtful for a moment, possibly some of the Doctor’s warning getting through to him. “Okay then, we won’t send down the landing craft. Just a few of us will go, scouts to see if it’s safe. I’ll lead.”

“No, I will.” Flurry stated. “It’s the duty of a Princess to protect her people isn’t it? I’d never ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t do myself Flashfire, and that includes putting me in danger. Yes, a Princess I may be, but I’m also a Paladin myself don’t you forget. I can handle myself, Doctor.”

“If you say so…” the Doctor trailed off hesitantly, no small amount of fear filling his voice for what he suspected was about to transpire.

“And transpire it did…” he whispered to himself back in the present time. “Damn them!” he shouted, slamming a fist on a console before walking off in disgust.

The rest of the ship’s crew could only watch, and Stripped Gear sighed to himself. They and that meant Flashfire and Flurry would have a lot to do to win back the Doctor’s trust.

A few days later, it was requested by Stardust that the entire crew got some downtime before they left onto the next galaxy, just to recover from the events of the happenings down on the planet Corvus. Flashfire, for one of the few times in his life, was actually thanking the normally ignoramus of a Prince he had to take orders from, and so went back to his usual routine of doing what he did whenever he needed to unwind as it were. That is, partake in the ship’s theatre troupe, this time playing the titular role in a play from his homeland: Cyrano de Bergerac.

“You were like a brother to me. Do you remember? We used to play in the park near the lake.” Spada stated, almost perfectly in-character as Roxanne. Now normally, it was Crescendo projected via hologram who played this role but sadly tonight she was unavailable. Ever since her recital of a Cruel Angel's Thesis that helped free a certain planet, she’d found herself quite busy playing in the ship’s musical groups.

“Yes, of course. Every summer, you came to Bergerac.” Flashfire, or rather Cyrano in this case replied. He had to admit, it was rather awkward using another male as Roxanne considering her role in the play but needs must. Besides, this was acting really. Spada had asked if he could change himself into a more feminine version of himself using the Virgo Kyutama or just his natural abilities but Flashfire had just looked disturbed by that. Plus, a little offended actually, stating that if he didn’t know how to act when improv or something of that ilk was required he’d never become truly great.

“You used to make swords out of the reeds, and when you cut your hand you would come running to me, and I would say, Let me see. Oh! How did you do that?”

“Playing near the Porte de Nesle.”

“And how many did you play against?”

“No more than a hundred.” Flashfire returned. Flashfire had long had an interest in the arts, the classical Shakespony-style theatre being one of his greatest interests alongside the clarinet. It was one of those few areas that he felt truly at peace. Perhaps it was his heritage, given his many great grandmother was a stage performer in her own right. A different type of stage performer he admitted, but he felt he had to honor her in some way given her wife was a great hero of old Equus.

“Tell me!” Spada pleaded. “Tell me!”

“No,” Flashfire stated, almost in monotone. Just like he’d been throughout the whole night. Spada found that rather odd really, he’d been a regular throughout the ship’s various plays and he knew when Flashfire was at his best. Tonight, it was evident something was off as the Beast Star was reading through his lines in a rather lifeless manner. Just going through the motions. “Let it go. Let it go. You tell me what you were going to say. Do you dare?”

“I do dare. I love someone.” Spada returned, attempting to try and get Flashfire back in the swing of things but no matter what, nothing seemed to work. Not even transforming mid-line into a copy of Roxanne would work.

“Ah!” Flashfire replied, rather caught off-guard by Spada’s transformation, his voice coming out as more of a squeak than anything else.

“He does not know.” Spada continued. “Not yet at least. But he is proud, noble, brave and beautiful.”

“Beautiful?” Flashfire stated, this line was supposed to be read in shock and perhaps a bit of envy, but once more it came out only lifelessly.

“What's the matter?” Spada asked, not only in-character but in a voice of concern for his friend. Something was definitely wrong here, Flashfire hadn’t been the same since he came back from Corvus. Perhaps whatever he experienced down there, it’d affected his performance.

“With me? Nothing. It is my hand. He is in the Guards?” Flashfire asked.

Spada/Roxanna nodded. “Since this morning. Baron Christien de Neuvillette. In your own regiment. Promise me. Promise me to be his friend."

“I promise.” Flashfire returned.

“Oh, I love you. I must go now. Oh, and tell him to write me. A hundred men! What courage!” Spada shouted as he walked off-stage as this particular act ended. Scattered applause filled the room, polite clapping.

...Oh, but I have done better since.” Flashfire muttered, largely to himself. As soon as the curtain felt, he hung his head in shame and threw off his costume and punched a wall bloodying his knuckles. “Damn it…” he muttered. “Damn it all. What’s wrong with me? That’s normally one of my favorite parts of the play!”

Flashfire knew all too well what was wrong with him really, it was guilt. Like a crushing weight upon his soul, he felt it. And he knew exactly why it was there. He’d ignored the Doctor’s direct warnings about traveling down to Corvus. The Doctor was supposed to be their guide to the universe, and Flashfire along with Flurry and Stardust were supposed to listen to him. But they’d done exactly the opposite when it came to this particular situation. Oh sure, some of that could be chalked up to them being put under Kukata Tamaa’s spell but not all of it. No, some of it could be attributed to them not listening to their own common sense and just seeing Corvus for what it was. Something that was far too good to be true.

He knew Flurry felt it as well, considering what had gone on only a day or so prior just after the crew had returned from the Hell that was Corvus.

And he suspected the crew knew it on some level as well, considering he’d been stopped by Spada in the hallways at one point.

“Hey uh Flashfire? Just wanted to bring something up. I know it’s probably not my place, but lately there’s been a point of er, concern among some of the crew. It's, well, it's the Princess. She's been a bit elusive lately.”

“Elusive?” Flashfire asked eyebrow raised.

“Hasn’t left her quarters really, not even to join the daily briefing amongst the staff.”

Flashfire sucked in a breath. “Your point?” he asked, despite having a sinking feeling he already knew why his love hadn’t left her quarters.

“People take comfort in talking to her. When they see that the Princess is happy, they're happy,” Spada continued. “I know it’s her privilege to do what she wants, but I’m going to drop protocol for a moment. You have to admit, it is pretty odd really. I’d advise you to check up on her. Hive Mother knows you’re one of the closest to her, most likely to get something out of her.”

Needless to say, Flashfire had followed Spada’s little tip and had gone to visit the Princess in her quarters. What he’d found, had been… interesting to say the least.

The room had been darkened, allowing the starlight to fill the room as Flurry just sat down in her chair and observed the view. “Astronomical phenomena helps one to focus your mind I’ve found,” Flurry said not even looking at him as Flashfire walked in, but still acknowledging his presence. I like to imagine that each star represents a single thought. A single hope, a single dream.”

“Rather new agey of you, really,” Flashfire remarked as he sat down beside her. “Listen, the crew, they’re-”

“Starting to get worried?” Flurry finished for him. “Let them. They should be worried, if we’ve got an incompetent leader at the helm.”

“By that, I assume you mean Stardust?” Flashfire joked trying to lighten the mood in his own way. His veins glowed a light pink even as he did so. He’d been noticing a few crew members have this same effect from time to time. Six in particular really, him amongst them. He wasn’t quite entirely sure why this happened, but he did have a working theory that he’d begun to suspect was probably quite sound after he’d heard Coldcast had become the new Element of Loyalty. The question was, who would become the next Element Bearer, and of which Element?

“Spare the jokes commander,” Flurry replied. “I meant me. A Princess, who ignores sound advice from a man who’s probably been gallivanting around this universe for longer than I’ve been alive. I made a mistake, simple as that. We both did.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But we can’t let it control our actions. Listen, I’ve got a performance of Cyrano de Bergerac coming up soon, you could join me if you want on-stage. Might help broaden your mind. Plus, Crescendo isn’t exactly available at the moment so we’re short one Roxanne.”

“Sorry, I’ll pass on the offer. Acting’s never been my forte.”

“And what if I told you I'm not leaving until you join me?” Flashfire said sternly. “Besides, if you ask me, you put up a damn good mask. God knows this mission’s put up a lot of stress on you, and yet ever since we left our home you’ve never been really one to show much emotion, never let anything get to you. At least, that’s how it seems on the surface. Otherwise, Tamaa probably wouldn’t have affected you as bad as he did.”

“How much do you know?” Flurry asked in a dangerous tone, whirling on him.

“Not as much as I’d like, I admit, but just enough. He had to have done something to you, Goddess knows he got into all of our heads. He knew things, I don’t know quite how, but he knew things about me that he never should have any right to.”

“So?” Flurry stated coldly. “See a therapist. Hell, see Pharynx. I know you’ve been petitioning to put him up as ship’s consular.”

Flashfire let out a growl and stomped off. As stubborn as a mule, this one.

“...I just want to get through to her, is that too much to ask? All of us, we all went through something,” Flashfire whispered aloud as he wandered the corridors of the ship aimlessly, no particular direction in mind. Eventually, he found himself in an empty storage room, and took out his clarinet. Looking at it briefly, he then decided to play it. Maybe it’d help clear his mind. Playing a soft, almost haunting and sorrowful melody he didn’t really hear the hiss of the bay doors opening behind him.

“It’s beautiful, you know,” Flurry said, distracting Flashfire from his playing. “Why you decided to be a pilot, I’ve no clue. You’ve got talent as an artisan. And you’re so remarkably kind, you putting up with me and my stupidity is evidence of that.”

“...Well, a stallion one supposes must have many talents. Keep his options open.”

“So, you two numbskulls are finally talking again?” Pharynx’s voice asked, as he too entered the cargo bay.

“What’s your place in all of this?” Flurry asked, and Pharynx chuckled as he sat down on a nearby storage crate.

“Flashfire, he asked me here. Wanted my opinions on his actions, and whether they were sound ones. Suppose while I’m here, might as well give my opinions on yours as well Princess. If you don’t mind that is,” he stated.

“Well, who am I to ignore advice from a Changeling King?” Flurry shrugged. “They’re awfully good at sensing feelings. Makes them good listeners, and counselors.”

“Bleagh, please don’t make me the ship’s counselor. Damn position reminds me too much of my brother’s Feelings Forum! Hugbox central,” Pharynx stated gruffly as he rolled his eyes, his veins glowing a bright orange. If either Flurry or Flashfire noticed, then neither of them pointed it out. “But… You want me to be blunt huh? Well then, the only thing I can say is you're idiots. The both of you,” he stated, catching both Flashfire and Flurry off-guard. And he wasn’t finished. “This New Eden of yours, hell it may not even exist! If you just keep on clinging to a false hope, then, in reality, you’re never going to get any stronger. You’re just holding yourself back. I apologize if that sounds cruel, but you did want my opinion, and now you’re getting it.”

With that, he took his leave. As he walked away from the storage room, he soon found his palm glowing with a strange orange light, and he opened it up to reveal an orange Kyutama with three little red apples inside it.

“...Huh.” he stated.

Back with Flurry and Flashfire, the two looked at each other.

“So…” Flashfire started.

“So…” Flurry replied. “You think he’s right? That we’re clinging to some false hope?”

“Perhaps, perhaps now,” Flashfire remarked. “I don’t honestly know. Maybe a new home for us exists out amongst the endless sky, maybe it doesn’t and our time has long since passed. I just honestly don’t really know. But what I do know is, he’s right on at least one aspect. We are idiots, the both of us.”

“Can’t deny that. I suppose we should take a quote of my mom’s to heart, I guess. She once said to me: “Don't be afraid of being scared. To be afraid is a sign of common sense. Only complete idiots are not afraid of anything.”

“Heh,” Flashfire laughed. “That’s quite true, really. Another old saying, another old nugget of wisdom for you. “Idiots are of two kinds: those who try to be smart and those who think they are smart.” In the last few days, I think we were of the second sort.”

“So…” Flurry began, feeling there was no sense in beating around the bush any longer. “What exactly did you see? On Corvus, I mean. What exactly did Kukata Tamaa make you see?”

“Well…” Flashfire stated, his voice shuddering. “Our entire mission, gone to ruin. Our ship, destroyed. He played upon my inner fears. All this while, I’ve had these feelings that every screw-up, my fault or not, my team will end up blaming on me.”

“The burden of a leader,” Flurry whispered. “They look up to you, and at the same time they place all of their hopes and dreams on you. Trust me, I should know.”

“Yeah…” Flashfire stated, before he remembered something else. Something else Kukata Tamaa had said.

“You haven’t told them yet. About your little secret? Oh, Flashfire Lulamoon, you’ve got more secrets than the galaxies have stars, and you won’t let anyone in on one. single. one. Maybe it’s because… Oh, isn’t this funny, the great Flashfire Lulamoon is afraid of what his team would think of him if they knew?”

Flashfire took a deep shuddering breath, and then he spoke. “You’re probably wondering why I’m taking an interest in Baroness Manx, and her… condition.”

“I thought it was just because you were naturally kind. Granted, you’re showing more interest in her case than anyone else aside from Pharynx, but… Oh Faust, you’re not saying…?”

“Exactly that. It wasn’t to me, but one particular member of my family, they know all too well it’s like to go through that sort of hell. I won’t divulge who it is,” Flashfire said, his mind’s eye picturing a pure white dragon-like pony with ram’s horns. “But let’s say this case is more personal for me than it should have been.”

“Did… Did you catch whoever it was who committed the act?” Flurry asked, and Flashfire nodded.

“Yes, yes I did. Let’s say nobody will ever have to worry about him ever again. Now for you, what did you see?”

“More like what I heard,” Flurry replied. “Everyone’s right about me, I am too closed off in my emotions, I’ve lost so much over my lifetime. Lovers, friends, family… I guess I didn’t want to feel that hurt anymore. But out here amongst the stars, where I’m closer to my subjects than I ever would have been on Equus, I guess that rationale isn’t really logical anymore…”

She and Flashfire continued their talk long into the night, and if anything besides feelings were exchanged between them, well that was their little secret to keep.

Later, that very next day Flashfire picked up where he’d left off in his role of Cyrano de Bergerac, and this time he had a new Roxanne to accompany him.

“He is a soldier too, in your own regiment in fact! Yes, in the Guards, in your company.” Flurry said, reciting the lines as if she knew them by heart, and as for Flashfire? Well, his return to form was a graceful one indeed.

“Ah!” Flashfire said with such conviction, you’d have believed he was indeed Cyrano believing Roxanne was talking about him whilst in fact she was really talking about Christian.

“And such a man! He is proud, noble, young, brave and very beautiful. Very beautiful indeed!”

“Beautiful?” Flashfire asked nervously.

“Whatever is the matter?” Flurry/Roxanne asked.

“Nothing, it is just my hand! That is all!”

Well, I love him. That is all. Despite this, I’ve never saw him anywhere at all except at the Comedie. But, oh!” Flurry shouted. People talk about people, and I hear things. And I know he is in the guards.”

“Y-You do?” Flashfire stuttered out, his character hoping that ‘Roxanne’ was talking about him.

Yes, one Baron Christian de Neuvillette. In your own regiment, as I said. Promise me, promise me this. Promise me you will be his friend.”

“I… I will.” Flashfire whispered, playing the part of the heartbroken love so perfectly, and as the curtains began to close, this time he was not greeted with scattered polite applause but a loud thundering chorus. Flashfire smiled, he was back. And this time, he had the courage to face the Doctor. Both him and Flurry.

Author's Notes:

Yes, yes, I know I said after last chapter I wouldn't be updating this story any more this month, but I didn't have the heart to leave you on a cliffhanger until December. Okay, originally a good portion of this chapter was going to be devoted to Coldcast dealing with the after-effects of what he saw on Corvus, but I've been doing some thinking. As of late, sometimes he's been getting too much focus while other characters that needed it got shafted. So, that's why Flurry and Flashfire were the leads here.

Another thing that got cut, well it was actually the Doctor's little moment warning the crew about Tamaa. For whatever reason, it was supposed to be in the previous chapter but I didn't get around to writing it. So, on that note decided to build this whole chapter around that. And in a way, I suppose it worked out for the best.

Another thing that got cut from this chapter was the actual debut of our next Karo, Eriedrone, AKA the leader of the Sagittarius system. Decided using him would make the intro that little bit too cluttered and chaotic, so he got axed. Rest assured, you'll see him soon enough.

As ever, comments and thoughts are appreciated.